Bell System by Les Batteries

A NOTE ABOUT THE PROCEEDS: All income from the online sales of CDs or digital downloads of _Bell System_ will be donated to an organization in Avignon, France working to aid refugees. Guigou is part of the association and we are pleased to contribute in this way. See below for Guigou's description of Rosmerta and the work to create LA MAISON DE ROSMERTA:

"We created Rosmerta in December 2018 because none of the local political or social structures did what they should do to welcome refugees in Avignon.

That December we decided to squat an old religious school, empty for 3 years, and to date we have welcomed roughly 60 refugees - taking care of them on all subjects (health, education, justice forms and applications, food, lodging etc.)

Most of the people we take care of are young boys aged less than 18 years, coming from west Africa (mostly Guinee, Mali, Cote d'Ivoire, Senegal). But also some families with kids (from west Africa but also Punjab, Albania, Georgia etc.)

Rosmerta has more than 3000 members, with about 50 active volunteers working on different subjects and commissions (education, health, communication, legal matters, contacts with different foundations etc.)

Last May we started a big campaign to raise money to buy a house - and because of a large citizen engagement, we collected 488,000 euros in 3 months !

On August 28, Rosmerta became the owner of a large house and we’ll move in soon, but we still need funding to do all the renovations of the building."
``````````````
Read more about the project (and practice your French comprehension) here: https://rosmerta-avignon.fr/

you can make further contributions here:
https://www.helloasso.com/associations/rosmerta/formulaires/1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_Bell System_ is the third full-length release ('98) by Les Batteries (preceded by _Noisy Champs_ in '86 and _Démesure Révolutionnaire_ in '91).

'As rock drummers go, these two are among the few originals, using the entire kit and winding through endless arrangements, by turns funky or swinging or martial or mathematically tricky or clobbering. The on-and-off 10-year-old partnership has just been re-established, with a new album, ''Bell System,'' on Rift records' - Ben Ratliff in the NYTimes September 11, 1998

"On their long-delayed third album, Bell System (Rift)–most of which was recorded at Chicago’s Idful Music with John McEntire more than three years ago–the bicontinental percussion duo Les Batteries continues to flout expectations. Together New Yorker Rick Brown (Run On, Timber, Fish & Roses) and Frenchman Guigou Chenevier (Volapuk, Etron Fou) take concise but eventful journeys without resorting to brainless funk, drum-circle trippiness, or sterile academicism for narrative help. Their compositions are so polyrhythmically complex that collisions often seem inevitable, but the pieces are fitted together like Swiss watch parts–so tightly that at the end of a tune you may find yourself exhaling in relief. The percussive onslaught is abetted by staticky electronics, sing-songy sax lines, zigzag keyboard riffs, and spoken word that’s sometimes conversational (“Resignation”) and sometimes hysterical (“Le Vent a la Crete des Vagues”), but the drums are always in control. - Peter Margasak in the Chicago Reader September 17, 1998

Rick Brown is the plywood crate guy in 75 Dollar Bill. He's been in bands before...

Fish & Roses
V-Effect
Les Batteries
Timber
Run On
Blinding Headache
Information
Red, Dark, Sweet
Rattle (not the UK one)
Love Layers

Tumblr
Twitter
75 Dollar Bill
Big Feet
Instagram